Sierra Swanson runs the Boston Marathon

It was a quick weekend trip, and she was back in class by 8 a.m. the following morning, but Sierra Swanson took full advantage of the opportunity to run in the Boston Marathon April 20. 
Swanson, the daughter of Dan and Anita and a 2024 Custer High School graduate, has always enjoyed running. She ran cross country and track in high school and is currently part of a running club and a triathlon club at the University of Wyoming. For the triathlons, Swanson races against other competitors in swimming, biking and running events for a combined time. 
“I thought it would be cool because I wanted to continue running,” said Swanson. “I really enjoy running and triathlons, and recently I’ve been getting into doing marathons.”
For Swanson, the hardest part of running is getting out the door and starting, but after that, she enjoys it. 
“It just makes you feel good. It’s productive and makes me feel good about myself when I’m running. I think it’s pretty cool to be running in different places too, exploring a little bit and just enjoying being outside and pushing my body to its physical limits,” said Swanson. “Even if I’m just running for fun or for training, it still makes me feel good about myself.” 
The first marathon Swanson competed in was The Colorado Marathon May 4, 2025, which was 26.2 miles per official standards. Swanson’s running club decided to participate in the marathon just for fun, and they all went down together. 
“That one was a pretty downhill course,” said Swanson. “I wasn’t specifically trying to qualify for Boston. I was just trying to see how it goes and do my best, and I ended up qualifying and I thought that was cool. I didn’t instantly decide I was doing Boston right after. I was really happy with my time.” 
Swanson finished The Colorado Marathon with a time of 3:13:16.52, almost 12 minutes under the qualifying time for the Boston Marathon of 3:25:00. She was the only member of her running club to qualify. 
Come mid-September, Swanson was still deciding whether or not she wanted to sign up for the Boston Marathon. However, with a day or so left before the deadline, she signed up. 
“I just thought it would be a really cool experience, and I was just like, ‘That sounds really fun,’” said Swanson. 
Swanson’s parents and her brother were able to join her on the trip to Boston. They flew out Saturday, April 18, picked up Swanson’s bib number, saw a few sights and enjoyed some local cuisine. 
The race itself was Monday, April 20. Swanson said she woke up really early, ate some energy bars, packed some nutrition gels, drank some Gatorade, stretched and got in line. 
While she usually likes to jog before a race, Swanson said competitors were corralled in a crowd at the starting line.
“It was really cool,” said Swanson. “Not everyone started at the same time because there were so many people. They slowly keep going to the start, and then I remember once we were close, people started jogging. Then, we started at the start line. I just remember there was a lot of music and a ton of people cheering. I just thought it was so cool.”
Swanson said she went out way too fast because of how much fun she was having weaving between people and trying to pass other runners.
“I just felt so hyped at the start,” said Swanson. 
However, before she had reached the halfway point, Swanson realized her mistake.
“At that point, ‘I was like, ‘Oh no.’ I wasn’t going as fast then, and then my stomach wasn’t feeling that great,” said Swanson. 
Slowly, she started feeling better, counting down the aid stations, getting more water and eating more gels. 
“I was trying to still have fun because there’s so many spectators, and it was really cool. I knew it would be a huge race, but there’s pretty much spectators the entire time, which was like so cool. There was usually music playing too, which was also pretty cool,” said Swanson. 
While she doesn’t usually run with music, Swanson said it helped distract her from how hard the race was.
Another thing that helped was spotting her mom among the spectators and knowing her family was cheering her on. 
“I was happy that they came to cheer me on,” said Swanson.
By the end of the race, Swanson’s legs were cramping, even on the downhill portions, as she tried to reach the finish line faster. 
“I was happy to be done because that second half was really hurting, but I was also really happy that I finished. After that, my legs were so sore. I was just kind of limping through the ending area,” said Swanson. 
Swanson competed in the female 18 to 39 category and finished 2,778th out of 5,722 runners with a time of 3:23:08.
“I was happy with my time in Boston,” said Swanson. 
That evening, Swanson and her family flew back so she could be in class Tuesday morning. 
“I felt so sore, and it was not very fun,” Swanson said. “I did not get much sleep that night, and then I had an 8:10 a.m. discussion I had to go to. It was not very fun, but it was worth it.”
“I’m super glad that I went. It was a lot of fun, just the whole vibe of it and the spectators being there the whole time, and the music and just the amount of people that are just all happy to be running. It’s just really cool,” said Swanson. 
One day in the future, she might like to run the Boston Marathon again, but for now, Swanson said she was just grateful for the experience. 
“I feel like that’s a race a lot of people want to do, and not everyone can do that one. I’m just really grateful that I got into it, and it makes me feel proud that I ran it too,” said Swanson. 
Swanson said that she is going to continue participating in her college running club and triathlon club. She also participated in the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon June 7.